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Trump is an adorable comedian in China. The fact that Chinese laugh doesn't necessarily mean they hate/look down upon him. If you follow Trump on Twitter, you'll find him hilarious at times.

Referring back to my original example, Americans didn't hate or look down on Benny Hill.

The thing is, Benny Hill was a professional comedian. Donald Trump is President of the United States. In my view, the Chinese may not hate or look down upon Trump, but it seems that they don't really respect him.

Let me ask, do the Chinese laugh at President Xi like they laugh at President Trump?

Oh Mao hated Russia as soon as Stalin died. Actually China and Russia had no real diplomatic relation since 1060s until 1989. The honeymoon between China and Russia was very short. They even had a small military conflict on the border.
It's absurd to say Mao's China was a puppet to Russia.

Ok. So we've established that Mao's China was a puppet to Russia until Stalin died.

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No matter how much you hate Mao and Chiang, they both wanted China to be strong as a nation (though sometimes in crazy ways). That alone deserves some credit.

Yeah isn't it wonderful? The fact that they both wanted China to be strong as a nation matters more. Millions of dead bodies is nothing.

we're opening a record number of coal mines putting people back to work. Tourism $s hurts real economic growth, we don't need that. The corrupt dems are destroying are relationship with Russia for selfish reasons. The PCA is meaningless.

Referring back to my original example, Americans didn't hate or look down on Benny Hill.

The thing is, Benny Hill was a professional comedian. Donald Trump is President of the United States. In my view, the Chinese may not hate or look down upon Trump, but it seems that they don't really respect him.

Let me ask, do the Chinese laugh at President Xi like they laugh at President Trump?

How?

There is no private media in China - all news and entertainment outlets are either directly controlled by the Central Propaganda Department of the CPC or affiliates of state-owned entities. I consume a lot of mainland Chinese news and entertainment, but have yet to encounter one public comedian who is willing to take the risk of poking fun at Xi. Not to mention the intense crackdown on newspaper and TV editorial boards since 2013, where formerly outspoken state-run newspapers like Southern Weekend/Southern Weekly/Caixin are now all toeing the "Core Leader" line.

I also remember there was a time when independent online stars like Yuan Tengfei routinely poked fun at the Communist Party with his satirical take on state-approved history education, but since 2012/13 people like Yuan have gone completely silenced.

First you talk about the average guy on the street in China, then you shift to state controlled media.

Cuban state media is definitely controlled by the government; back in the day, Cubans laughed at Fidel Castro, but they did it in front of people that they knew wouldn't rat them out.

For sure, if you want to laugh at Xi in private among your friends and family, by all means, plenty of people do that in China. All political leaders are fair game - plenty of jokes, rumours, conspiracy theories float around in private discussions. My relatives and I do the same over private dinners in Beijing and Shanghai, as long as that talk doesn't get out of the room

However, people in China cannot "laugh" at Xi the same way citizens in western countries can openly laugh at their elected leaders. There's no equivalent of Daily Show, Colbert Report, SNL in China - if you even dared to think about putting any of these political jokes on Chinese television - even if for pure entertainment - be prepared for a mid-night visit from State Security. Xi Jinping wasn't joking when he said that "all media should remember that their surname is Communist Party" back in March 2016.

My relatives and I do the same over private dinners in Beijing and Shanghai, as long as that talk doesn't get out of the room...

I take it to mean that you and your relatives are citizens of China. So please explain to me, why is Donald Trump's overly long and cellophane taped neck tie so incredibly hilarious to a Chinese person?

And why were the Chinese factories building Donald Trump Chicken Statues?

Ok. So we've established that Mao's China was a puppet to Russia until Stalin died.

Yeah isn't it wonderful? The fact that they both wanted China to be strong as a nation matters more. Millions of dead bodies is nothing.

NO. Even before Stalin died, China government had not really done anything to please the soviets at their own cost. Even participating in the Korean war was a decision based on China's security considerations, no matter that decision was right or wrong.

China IS becoming a strong nation every day. Many people have made their contributions, including Mao and Chiang.
For example, Mao built an (almost) unified China and developed nuclear bombs, both being necessity for a "strong nation" or super power. Chiang did not surrender to Japan, unlike the French. Although he was a weak leader, he had some bottom line and did not lose it.

Yes, many Chinese people died, but 1.3 billion survived, and they are trying hard to keep the population down. History is moving forward only.

If you watch Chinese media, you will find they almost NEVER criticize any foreign government or foreign politician either. CCTV attacks the US only if US government brings up the "human rights" issue, or sells some weapons to Taiwan, etc. Those fights do not last long, and CCTV never throws attacks based on ideology or other countries' domestic affairs.

I think many Chinese people like to talk about politics. My WeChat groups are full of politically-related news and rumors, especially before the "rumor crackdown" months ago. Of course it depends on family background and level of education. Farmers in the mountains probably won't care about what happens in America.

However, they usually keep the talks in their friend circle or family. Americans could meet someone in a restaurant and start to badmouth Trump or Obama. Actually I have heard a lot of people say they hate Trump to me, although they know I am not even American. Chinese will never do this in China.

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